


the moon rises in the void

by esnoyuuutsu



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: A3Dilemma, Death Game AU, Gen, Ghosts, kumon omi tasuku alice masumi and august are there very briefly, nearly everyone mentioned in this fic is dead i'm sorry, probably some kinda implication of augju and arichika, yukishiro conspiracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26299438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esnoyuuutsu/pseuds/esnoyuuutsu
Summary: In the story of a certain facility, even that empty-headed angry month man can be a victim. But at least maybe that way even he can find a way back home.// very specific branch of an au where i take the stuff that was already happening in it and then go BUT WHAT IF WE ALSO HAD JULY IS YUKISHIRO HAJIME HAHA
Kudos: 10





	the moon rises in the void

**Author's Note:**

> hello i just wanted to put this somewhere rather than leaving it in my docs but it's incredibly niche and specific to a3dilemma so yeah. the context required is like...  
> \- everyone here is a victim in a death game au  
> \- july got murdered by august who was faking his death this whole time because he evil  
> \- for some reason chikage had july talking in his head around the time he got murdered and it carried over to him being a ghost  
> \- all the ghosts live together in a nice little house and it's very sweet if you ignore the fact that they're all dead  
> ok yea thanks if ure here at random i'm so sorry

It’s been quite some time since the day July started speaking in Chikage’s mind. He should be just a hallucination, some strange manifestation of his own mind turning on itself, but with every new incident of July surfacing, to the point of taking him over, using his own voice to speak, Chikage began to suspect something else might be going on.

“Fufu...you know, Chikage. July, was it? That other voice sharing your body.” Azuma inquisitively tilts his head. “He seems...fond of me.”

“Huh. I guess he does.” There doesn’t seem to be an explanation, as far as Chikage can tell from what July tells him. Maybe it’s some sense of kinship, based on their appearances— _ not that that’s your real face,  _ he laughs internally to July’s displeasure—the same sharp yellow eyes, the same smile that says  _ perhaps I know something you don’t _ with an unspoken heart after it.

On the occasions he gets to talk to Hisoka, telling him what’s happened as of late while he’s been asleep, Chikage would mention the continuing saga of how he’s been dealing with July. The first few times, Hisoka laughed himself into a coughing fit—Chikage couldn’t really blame him for that, since if their roles had been reversed, Hisoka would never hear the end of it from him either.

But after Chikage brings up Azuma and July getting along, Hisoka seems to take it a little differently.

“It’s so weird. He’s so nice to Azuma-san compared to literally anyone else.” Chikage shakes his head. “I don’t even know if you can imagine that idiot being nice.”

“You sure that doesn’t just mean  _ you _ feel like that about Azuma.” Hisoka pouts. It’s painfully obvious how jealous he is of the time he’s missed with his troupemate, but that’s not Chikage’s problem.

“Well...he is a friend, but this seems like something else? I don’t know how to explain it.”

Yawning, Hisoka settles back down in bed. “‘s there any way you can get him out of your head? Maybe...there’s still some way for us to help him. ‘fter all, if he really is just another ghost stuck to you...he’s in the same boat as the rest of us.”

Chikage is quietly sitting in the void, at an hour no one will find him out of bed and begin to worry. A pair of moon earrings appears in his hands.

“How about this?”

_ “No, no, the jewel is just hanging inside the crescent.” _ July turns them over, frowning.

“Can you give me a hand on this, at least?” Wincing slightly at the unintended pun, Chikage sighs. “You know I only saw your earrings once, and they weren’t exactly what I was focused on.”

_ “December remembered them, and he was falling off a cliff when he first saw me,” _ retorts July, but he takes a breath, closing his eyes.

_ “For you, July. So even when you change, you can still remember who you are.” _

_ “August...you…” _

_ “Yes?” _

_ “...thank you. I’ll treasure them.” _

July’s exact earrings materialise in his hands, a wave of borrowed heartache and nostalgia washing over Chikage in the process. He pulls a pillow from his jacket, gently placing the earrings on them.

“I have no idea if this’ll do anything, you know.”

_ “You couldn’t at least do it in a room?” _

“Would’ve loved to try this out in Summer’s room for the joke, but there’s kids in there.”

July isn’t amused.  _ “We’re already dead. What am I going to do, hm?” _

Chikage simply conjures a blanket, lying down to sleep, the only time July is quiet at all.

His thoughts continue to be pretty quiet afterward, but the same can’t be said of ghost home—once the news circulates that there’s an addition to their number who isn’t from Mankai, there’s a bit of a ruckus.

“Who are you?!” Kumon is hiding behind Omi, pointing aggressively at a figure with long dark hair, in that old familiar all-black Organisation uniform.

July smiles. “Oh, just another ghost like all of you.”

Taking a careful look at him, Azuma hums, “How curious.”

“Here we go,” Chikage mutters under his breath. He walks up to July, pulling at the back of his collar like a cat. “This...is July. The former Organisation member who was living in my head. I’ve managed to get him out, _and he’s_ _going to_ _behave around everyone, or I’m knocking him out again_.” The latter half of the sentence is whispered, just loud enough for only July to hear.

“Don’t worry,” July drawls, bright eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to cause any trouble. Being free of April here is enough to keep me in a good mood for a long time. You can all relax.” Turning to the unholy trinity of Tasuku, Homare, and Masumi, his smile curls a little more. “Even all of you.”

In spite of the remaining worries, July keeps to his word. He’s still prickly towards the trio of former traitors who share the month names of the organisation he’d dedicated his life to until the very end, but for the most part, with every passing day it becomes more clear that he too is simply another spirit still unable to move on from their half-existence.

He watches over Hisoka too, wondering if the delicate little sleeping figure was what convinced August to bring him home. It startles Hisoka the first time he wakes up with July there, but the realisation hanging in the air that July was a victim was much as they were softens him towards the older agent.

His strange parental instinct towards Chikage continues, in the form of his initial suspicions towards Homare—July had said as much once to Homare’s face, not that Homare was the one in control at the time, but the similarity between his and Chikage’s circumstances to that of July and August’s was a constant source of distress—though it slowly becomes more apparent that July just never recovered from August’s presence in his life.

July offers to braid Azuma’s hair, oddly gentle as he says how pretty it is while he weaves flowers into it. Azuma is happy with how it turns out, remarking on how Azami and Yuki would probably appreciate the footage the most, but his mood changes—for worse? for the better?—when July finishes up by giving him a soft pat on the head.

Seeing him in regular daily (after)life makes Chikage wonder if this is what the real meaning of August wanting to save July was unfortunate as it may be that it’s only happening when he’s already dead.

Hisoka has his own thoughts on this idea—he remembers his old conversations with Azuma, about people they’d lost, the people they missed. And while it’s too late for him and August, he feels it might not be the same for Azuma and his brother.

Ever forceful, Chikage asks, “...if you think that’s what’s going on, why don’t you tell one of them.”

“And look like a dumbass if I’m wrong? No thanks.” Hisoka squeezes his pillow closer to his chest. “Besides...you tried to force me to remember stuff, and it didn’t really help. All we can do is give him a hand if he does.”

“Ah, Yukishiro.” July comes up to Azuma, hesitating once he sees how Azuma is in the middle of an emotional moment.

“O-oh. Hello, July.” Azuma smiles, loosening up, though he’s still on the verge of tears.

“Something wrong?”

Pausing before he responds, Azuma shakes his head. “I just...got something important to me back.” He opens his hands, showing his treasured hairpin.

“...wh...where did you get that.” July’s voice cracks, just the slightest.

“Hmm? Well, it’s...it’s a gift my older brother left for me before he...disappeared...July? Are you alright?” In the middle of Azuma’s explanation, tears started sliding down July’s face.

“I don’t...know.” He wipes a tear away from his eye with a trembling hand, staring at his fingers in a daze. “He...he disappeared, you say.”

In spite of his growing concern, Azuma continues. “Yes...Hajime-niisan and my parents got into an accident, but he was never found...s-should I get you some tissues, or something?”

For a moment, July is completely silent, golden eyes wide, staring back into just the same colour. When he does speak again, his voice is softer, lighter, even through an edge of pain. “...Azuma…”

Azuma blinks. “You’ve never called me by my first name before.”

Slowly, as if he’s afraid to move, July (?) lays his hands on Azuma’s shoulders. “Azuma...I’m so sorry...” He wraps his arms around Azuma, whose confusion is reaching its peak—until he feels a warm hand gently patting his hair, accompanied by murmured apologies, and he’s about to start crying himself.

“...niisan…?”

**Author's Note:**

> if u read this out of context and you still liked it well thanks!! (confused) if u didn't then idk what you were expecting.
> 
> writing as chikage all the time for a3d has really heightened my appreciation for the stupid cabbage but also at heart i'm always ///yukishiro conspiracy/// (even if i think that it's more likely august is haji. whatever.)
> 
> i'm p much always at esnoyuuutsu on twt!


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